Lamp cage hook construction



Nov. 16, 1954 R. c.w1TTMAN 2,694,776

LAMP CAGE HOOK CONSTRUCTION Filed July 21, 195o [lul nl' V I N V EN TOR.VRiehen/'1] C. ,W1/:ifm un ofmg/ United States Patent LAMP CAGE H001(CONSTRUCTION Richard C. Wittman, Emporium, Pa.

Application July 21, 1950, Serial No. 175,101

1 Claim. (Cl. 240-54) This invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in wire cages for work lamps, and the like, and has aspecial reference to the construction whereby the supporting hook isconnected to the cage.

The main object of the invention is to provide a hook so related to thecage that the cage may be readily turned with respect to the hook, anddirect the light of the lamp through the medium of the reflector, in anydirection and to provide resistance in the connection between the hookand cage structure so that the lamp and reflector will remain in thedesired adjusted position so as to throw the light just Where it iswanted.

A further object is to provide a construction for connecting thesupporting hook to a lamp cage of such character that it may readily beadapted to most conventional cages without the requirement of any majoralterations therein.

A still further object is to provide certain tension members inconnection with the hook to furnish the desired resistance, and soarranged as to be applicable either on he outside or the inside of thecage as may be desire Another object is to provide construction thatrequires very little additional space for assembly and operation.

Another object is to provide a device wherein the spring tensionregulating the resistance in the cage hook may readily be adjusted atthe will of the operator.

Still another object is to provide construction in which resistanceoffered to the turning of the cage is relatively high in relation to theamount of tension employed.

A still further object is to provide a constructionuin which thefrictional resistance member may be of spring or resilient metal, or ofrubber or other resilient material.

Further and more specific objects, features and advantages will moreclearly appear from a consideration of the detailed specificationhereinafter set forth, especially when taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings which illustrate a present preferred form whichthe invention may assume and which form part of the specification.

The conventional hook as hitherto usually employed has either beenrigidly fastened to the case or loosely swivelled thereto. This has theresult that the light can not be directed under the complete control ofthe operator, or may be influenced by a twisted cord to throw the lightto variable positions independent of the operator.

In brief and general terms, the improved construction constituting thisinvention involves the usual wire cage construction wherein the upperends of the wires are connected to a cap piece or plate. ln the presentconstruction, this cap piece or plate is apertured and the stem of thesupporting hook passes therethrough. The lower end of the hook below thecap piece is provided with suitable locking devices, and a resilientfrictional resistance member in the form of a resilient disk of metal ofvarious forms or a disk of rubber is disposed adiacent the cap plate andaround the stem either above or below the cap plate and associated withsuitable bearing washers wherein frictional resistance to the turning ofthe cage with respect to the stem is offered, of sufficient magnitude toprevent the cage from being turned relative to the hook, or vice versa,except under the direct effort of the workman.

A further feature of the invention has to do with the disposition of thefrictional resistance member in such position against the cap piece thatthe closely ad- ICC jacent bent upper ends of the cage wires surround italong at least a portion thereof to prevent lateral displacementthereof.

The present preferred forms which the invention may assume are shown inthe drawings, of which,

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a work lamp and wire cage with the supportinghook connected thereto in accordance with the preferred form of theinvention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged partial cross section through the form of a hookconnection shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a modied form in which the resilient disk and the bearingwasher are disposed below the cap plate;

Fig. 4 is a still further modification in which no lock nuts are usedand the disk of metal is above the cap piece;

Fig. 5 is a form similar to Fig. 4 in which the disk is below the cappiece; and,

Figs. 6, 7, and 8 are perspective views of different types of resilientdisks which may be employed.

Referring now merely to the specific forms of the invention, as shown inthe drawings, it is to be noted that this connection is shown applied toa work lamp having a handle 10 at the upper end of which is a socket 11for a lamp bulb 12 which is surrounded by the usual wire cage generallyindicated by the numeral 13. In the usual manner, the upper ends of theseveral wires of the cage extend upwardly and are curved toward eachother, and their bent ends 14 are engaged with a cap piece or plate 15in any suitable manner. Preferably, the bent ends eX tend over the topof the outer edges of this piece 15 and are bent downwardly throughapertures 16 in the cap piece7 which are disposed at spaced pointsadjacent the periphery thereof. The wires are thus reversely bent sothat their outer ends 17 lie somewhat closely to the main body of thewires. By being thus bent downwardly and around, these bent portions mayact to hold or retain the upper end of a reeetor 18 as shown in Fig. l.However, this reflector may be supported in any other manner, and thewires may be bent in the opposite direction if desired, or may beconnected to the cap piece in some other manner.

In the form shown in Fig. 2, a stem 19 of the hook 20 extends freelythrough an aperture 21 in the cap piece and its lower portion isthreaded at 22 to threadably receive an elastic type of stop nut 23,which serves to maintain the resilient turning-resistance disk undertension, and also to provide a tensional bearing surface in contact withthe cap piece.

Above the cap piece 15, there is disposed a resistance member which maybe in the form of a resilient split ring washer 27 (Fig. 6), the lowerface of which bears on the top of the cap piece and the upper face ofwhich bears against a frictional bearing surface shown in the form of anapertured washer 28 through which the stem 19 loosely passes. Above thetop of this washer 28 there is formed an enlarged abutment element 29which may be formed out of the metal of the stem, or may be a supportingapertured piece to slip onto the stem and be welded thereto. It isobvious that the resilience of split ring 27 will press up against thewasher 28 to force it against the abutment 29, and thus also cause thestop nut 23 to bear frictionally against the lower surface of the cappiece 15, with the various parts thus frictionally engaged. By theresilience, or pressure of the split ring 1?.7, it can be seen that thehandle and the cage can be relatively turned, but that the frictionalresistance thus created will not permit such relative turning on thepart of the cage or hook themselves, but only under a deliberate turningeffort on the handle 10 by the workman. Thus, the workman can turn thehandle while the hook is supporting the lamp from any suitablesupporting element and be thus enabled to position the reector 18 so asto direct the light in any desired direction, and when so positioned,the parts will remain therein. The size of the abutment members andwasher is such that these elements nest within the circle of bent overcage wires formed at the connection of the cage wires with plate 15"piece 15.' In this form this member takes the form of a shown in Fig. 2and its upper face bears against the lower face of the cap piece 15, andits lower face bears against i africtional..bearingplate or`washer''30'.-whiclrwloosely 'surroundsthe loweriportion of'fthe stem 19which, as

before, loosely-passes through the` central'aperture :'16 in thetcappiece :2Below-thisrwasher2'30 -isidisposed, as

before mentionedf-thevstop nuti-unit '213i held :securely to the stem19. vIt will fbe seen -that the ring`27 is normally disposed withrespect -to the `adjacentebent-..encl'sof the wires 14so'that-lateraldisplacement of thisielement is .preventediby theadjacentdisposition-.of these wires. This construction'will permit oa-shorterunit but :otherwise operates substantially the same as-the one =aboveset `forth.---The use of thev stoptype nut^unit'23--clearlyvallows foradjustment 'of' thesplit=ringvtension at thehoption of the workman.

As shown in Fig. 4, the construction is modied to 'vf's'howthe1washeri28 'loosely disposed around` the-stem 19. Between this washer28 andvthepcap .piece 15'lis disf'posed'a'v ilatapertured disk 32,preferablyrofi resilient material suchy asfrubber. On thef'lowerfendofthestem 19," below the' cap ,piece 15, :there isdisposed a' friction'1 washer 33 "which vis preferably weldedorr riveted -to the stem.

In= the form shown inFig. 5,-thesame `general conv struction isemployedtwith the use of the rubber-.disk 32, but in this case it isdisposed-below-the cap Apiece 15, and

-. the yfrictionbearingwasher orelement 33 isnwelded or "riveted-tothe'stem and'is of suiicient diameter ltoamply respectively contacting'the capy piece andrtheestern so thatat alb-times the relativeturning=betweenfthe cap piece and the stem is `resisted-byapredetermined, or adnot to be limited to such details, since manychanges and modifications may be -made inthe-invention- -withoutdeparting from the spiritand scope thereof. Hence, it is desired tocover any and all forms and modifications may be made in the inventionwithout departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Hence, it isdesired to cover any and all forms and modifications of the inventionwhich may come within' the language and scope of the appended claim.

Ilclaim:

A wire cage for a worklamp comprising a cap plate having acircular'series of peripheral openings and vertical cage wires.extending'therethroughr-and bent over to secure them therein, said capplate further having a central aperture,ga hooked stem loosely extendingthrough the aperture, an abutment encircling and secured to the stemabove the plate, said abutment being of substantially greater diameterthan the stem and having africtio'nal bearing surface facingthetfoutemside of the s cap plate, anifabutmentfmember.'encircling:the-stem be- .f low theZ cap lplateand havinga frictionallbearingsurfacesubstantially largerfwthan saiduaperturesfacing theifinner #isideof'the'cap plategand a lcompr'essiblerand .resilient 4deformed r :metalwasher resistance? member fdisposed 'around the.' stem and'under"compressionbetween the iirst 'mentioned .abutment member r; and'Uthe;l caps: plate, f -fsaid abutment members and.saidresistancexmemberall being of suchfsize as to'` nestwithinthey circle of bent- :over cagewirespsaid resistancerrlember engaging the first mentioned abutmentrmembere and the' cap"'plate,

z with the second mentioned abutment 'member being adw -Justably ixed4on said` stemztowmaintain. frictional: contact between said'cap plate.andf'said fsecond abutment member and betweenrsaid' cap fplate'and saidYirst:men

tioned abutment member and said compressible;` and rersilientresistancemember, said compressiblciresilient reslstance' membermaintainingxsubstantlal'.'frictional rei" slstance tounwanted rotatingmovement ofxsaidfstem 'justable, amount of resistance-which willnou'allow the f' parts to move-relatively of themselvesfebut-willlrequire `la definite turning forceexertedon the parts by thefwork- Aman using theflampA Therefore,when the lamp is set in a definiteposition with respect to--the hook, lit'will-,stay in thisApositionwithr thefmanyresultant advantages above ..1 set'forth. Itisobvious-that in `the'eonstructions shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5, anyoneof the yforms of resistant Vspring-disksshown in Figs. 6, -7 andSimay be employed maccordance'with the-.necessity 0in-requirements ofthe particular construction.

While the invention has been described in-detail and shown with respecttothe accompanying` drawing, it is being rotatable with respect to saidcap plate only-when 'urged l by external force.

" Number Name iDate 77,326 Shaw -.."Apr. 28,` 1868 y'174,969 MetcalfL'Mar. 21,k 1876 1,958,222 i -Wilson May '8, 1934 f 2,019,387 -BlairOct. 29, 1935 2,254,288 Cowan -iSept. 2, 1941 2,278,062 Koharovich Mar.315 1942 2,291,907 Lebeda Aug. 4, 1942

